Business Secretary Vince Cable: "I Don't Want To Attack One Direction"
17 April 2013, 12:51
The Liberal Democrat MP has distanced himself from comments about the boy band's earnings.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has said he has "nothing" against One Direction.
It comes after Lib Dem Cable questioned the "grossly immoral" earnings the group had made during their short career so far.
Recently it was revealed that Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne had each made £5 million last year.
Cable said it was "mad", but has now backtracked from his initial comments, saying he had "misheard" the original question, which he thought was about chief executives' pay.
"I don't want to attack One Direction, this is one particular group who are apparently very popular and very successful so I have nothing against them," he told Sky News
"But there is a general issue of chief execs in particular who are paid well beyond what can be justified in terms of the performance of their companies, and that's something the government is now trying to address."
One Direction are currently on their 'Take Me Home' world tour, which is due to call at venues around the world this year.
The group are also filming their first ever 3D movie, This Is Us, ahead of its release in the summer.
